Gasualpampa

Another epic hiking day with Stu. Climbing, climbing, climbing the steep ridgeline. Orchid trail it is nicknamed. A dark brooding passage of moss and fern and gnarly branchs poised to reach out in grab you, but struck impudent in the bright morning sunlight. Once we made the ridge the forest gives way to paramo. Looking East you can just make out the hazy jagged peaks of the last great Cordillera ringing the Amazon, the ridge of the basin. At that moment is the ominous sound of thunder breaking over our heads on the pass. Brooding clouds above where weather systems meet and do battle here at the dividing range. Dropping down a steep hillside are blooming wildflowers everywhere and a great whirlwind of collared swifts building up like one of the thunderheads so close. A dark cloud of small moving shapes.

A forest of tree ferns and a promising place for our first camera trap nearby. A month from now we weill see the results of this. Andean bears we hope, or perhaps creatures even more rare. Crashing through fresh cleared nekron grass and sharp machete chopped bamboo staves littering the rough trail down slope through the valley of Gasualpampa. A drizzle begins and the mists of this moisture suck down into the valley we descend from the rim above. The silhouette of the forest is wreathed in cloud now, the namesake cloud forest. Glistening green and flecked with bursts of flower like gold dust, and more tangled growth than a Medusas head.

Tumbling down slope we level out to small narrow valley with a spring tumbling between small rocks and the muddy prints of cows hooves on the bank. The cattle gaze on our intrusion with vacant cows eyes and seem not to care. We are now near Panchos homestead in opening of this valley. Arriving at our journeys end and looking back at the route we came, the valley of Gasualpampa. A place Stu has marked out for many plans including our camera trapping and reforestation of pastures.

Start to finish back at the alpaca pastures. A herd of poofy white pillows with legs and soft eyes.